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"These Girls Are Tough On Me": Mandhana's Hilarious Motivation Behind T20I Century

Rajgeeta Yadav

Smriti Mandhana [Source: @BCCIWomen/X.com]Smriti Mandhana [Source: @BCCIWomen/X.com]

Star Indian batter Smriti Mandhana created history by scoring her first-ever T20 International (T20I) century. With this amazing innings, she became the first Indian woman cricketer to score 100 runs in all three formats of international cricket (Test, ODI, and T20I). She scored her century in just 51 balls with lots of sixes and boundaries, dominating the English bowling attack.

Mandhana was the captain for India in the absence of Harmanpreet Kaur, who was injured before the match. At Trent Bridge in Nottingham, Mandhana’s powerful batting helped India win the first game of the five-match T20I series against England by a huge margin of 97 runs. It was a strong start for India in the series.

How Radha Yadav’s Friendly Taunts Motivated Mandhana

After the match, Mandhana shared how her teammate Radha Yadav had been teasing her for not scoring a century in T20Is before. Radha said Mandhana often got out in the 70s or 80s and missed her chance to reach 100. Mandhana said,

"Three days back, me and Radha Yadav, we were having a conversation." 


 "These girls are really hard on me sometimes. She was telling me, 'It's high time you get a century in T20Is, you keep getting out in the 70s, 80s and you are not doing justice to your talent and all of that stuff."    

"I was like, 'okay, Radha, I'll see now, this time I'll try and get it in one of the matches in the series'."    

Before the game started, India lost captain Harmanpreet Kaur due to a head injury she got during a warm-up match. This meant Mandhana had to step in as captain. The pitch looked perfect for batting, and Mandhana quickly took control of the game with aggressive shots from the start.

Smriti Mandhana’s Explosive Batting Powers India’s Strong Total

India batted first, and Mandhana was the main attacker. Even though Shafali Verma struggled early on, Mandhana kept scoring boundaries and sixes. The turning point was the seventh over when Mandhana hit two sixes and a four off England’s bowler Sophie Ecclestone, scoring 19 runs in that over.

Mandhana soon reached her half-century and with help from Harleen Deol, who played well with some quick boundaries, India built a strong total. Mandhana finally scored her T20I century, making history as the second Indian woman to do so.

England’s attempt to chase India’s big score failed badly. The batters were in a hurry and lost wickets quickly. Indian bowlers kept taking wickets at regular intervals.

Sree Charani shined in her debut match by picking up key wickets, including that of England’s top scorer Sciver-Brunt. England collapsed to 113 runs, losing the match by 97 runs.

Thanks to Mandhana’s amazing century and strong bowling performance, India took a 1-0 lead in the five-match T20I series against England.